this is "newsline." glad you to join us. it's friday, september 10th, 11:00 a.m. i'm catherine kobayashi. here are your updates. nhk learned prime minister naoto kan has the lead over ichiro ozawa in the race for the democratic president of the party of japan. the winner will almost be confirmed by the diet as prime minister.

in the election to take place on tuesday, votes will be tallied according to a point system with dpj diet members accounting for 822 points out of a total of 1,222. party members belonging to local government bodies have votes worth 100 points and rank and file party members are allocated 300 points. an nhk survey showed diet members are almost equally divided between kan and ozawa with each having about 180 lawmakers in his camp. the remaining lawmakers, about 50 in number, are undecided. more than half of the nearly 2,400 local government party members say they will support kan, while about 700 back ozawa. the remaining 500 are undecided. kan and ozawa will try to win over undecided lawmakers in a policy debate on friday and through other efforts in the

time being. a u.s. pastor called off plans to burn copies of the koran on the anniversary of the september 11th terrorist attacks. >> the imam agreed to move the mosque. we have agreed to cancel our event on saturday. >> on thursday, the pastor of a christian church in florida said he decided to cancel the book burning event because a muslim organization agreed to move the site of an islamic center planned for a location near the remains of the world trade center in new york. the muslim o, for its part, however, denied having agreed to such a trade-off. an official of the muslim organization told nhk they have not spoken with pastor terry jones and not at present considering a different location for the planned islamic center. the pastor's plan to burn the koran sparked an international outcry. earlier on thursday u.s.

president barack obama urged jones to reconsider his plan in comments aired on abc television. obama said the book burning was contrary to american values stressing that the united states is a nation of freedom and religious tolerance. the president also said it could endanger the lives of military personnel deployed into iraq and afghanistan. japan and the united states have agreed to resume negotiations on japan's restrictions on u.s. beef imports after a three-year suspension of talks. the two sides are scheduled to restart working level talks next tuesday in the u.s. the decision comes on the heels of japan's declaration that a recent outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the country has come to an end. the u.s. side is expected to call on japan to scrap restrictions on u.s. beef imports. japan currently only accepts imports of u.s. beef from cattle aged 20 months or less due to

fears over bse or mad cow disease. the japanese side is expected to remain unchanged in its stance that restrictions are necessary for food safety. the u.s. has been pressing japan to lift the restrictions. in april, u.s. agricultural secretary tom vilsack proposed to japanese agriculture minister akamatsu that japan consider easing the restrictions. now we go over to the business world, let's go to ines matsuyama. >> thanks, catherine. hello. the bank of japan, a japanese bank that mainly lends to small enterprises filed for bankruptcy on friday. the failing may lead to the first implementation of a law that caps government guarantees on deposit paybacks, the ceiling set at just below $120,000 for each deposit holder. the financial industry's watchdog says it will liquidate incubator bank of japan. debts are expected to exceed

alsets over $2 billion. loans that cannot be paid back by borrowers weighed down on the bank's finances. ki kimures awas arrested in july for obstruction, and the cap on the deposit guarantees went into effect five years ago but so far, no cases of paybacks have occurred. ink baiter banks customers may become the first ones to lose some of their principle and interest if they exceed the limit. japan's financial services minister said authorities will deal with the incubator bank of japan in an orderly manner.

japan's economic growth from april to june was revised up to 1.5%. that's an annual terms and it is a percentage point higher than the initial estimate given in mid-august. the cabinet office said on friday that the gross domestic product rose 4% from the previous three months, this marks a third straight quarter of expansion. the revision is an upgrade from the preliminary report, but the pace of expansion was much slower than the 5 pst shown from january through march. one factor to push up growth was increased company spending on plant and equipment, which was higher than many forecasts. in other words, the slow pace in cutting inventories. a government official said the economy continues to show signs of a recovery but expressed caution about the future due to a strong yen and uncertainties

overseas. tokyo stocks rose on friday morning as the dollar stn. the nikkei 225 ended the morning session at 9279, up 181 ticks or almost 2% higher. export related shares led the advance. u.s. and european markets gains overnight also helped boost market sentiment. in currencies better than expected u.s. jobs data are pushing the dollar higher against the yen on friday morning. it's currently at 84.23-27, while the euro is at 106.58-61. the market was largely unaffected by the failure of japan's incubator bank and here's a look at the latest long-term interest rates, the year on the benchmark ten-year japanese government bond. in other asian markets hong kong's hang seng opened 0.7% higher, currently up 0.5%. the blue chips is up .1% and so

is the sse composite. in china, auto sales rose for the first time in five months. the association of automobile manufacturers said car sales were up 16% from a year earlier. china's auto sales rose 55% in march but later the pace lost steam. observers say government subsidies pushed up sales of energy-efficient cars that were launched in june. discounts and other incentives from many dealers also had a positive impact. nissan motor will set up product development centers in southeast asia to tap into their expanding auto marks. nissan announced the plan thursday. the automaker will boost its development platform in thailand to support the launch of new models. nissan has already begun local

production of compact vehicles after expanding its facilities. from april 2011, nissan will set up another development center in indonesia. it will increase local employees in charge of development by about three times from the current 110. nissan says it hopes these measures will double its market share in thailand and indonesia to over 10%. the carmaker forecasts that the southeast asian auto market will exceed 3 million in five years, up from 1.9 million in 2009. japanese automakers including nissan are focusing on asia as domestic market is not expected to grow. colombia was once known as

one of the most unsafe countries in the world. in recent nears it's enjoyed steady growth with big improvement in security. now colombia is trying to attract more foreign investment, especially from asia. nhk world's sakai tells us more. >> and this year, we became the number one country, latin america, in business climate. we're number one in latin america, number 37 in the world. so we need to continue going that direction. >> reporter: when colombia's former trade minister visited tokyo in july to woo japanese investors, he declared his country one of the world's most ideal investment destinations. but it's not all hype. 50 japanese companies took part in a seminar promoting colombia. they say the country has more business opportunities than ever before. >> translator: we were worried about investing in colombia because of lack of security. it's great to hear security is no longer a problem.

>> translator: colombia has become attractive as a market as well as a base for exports. >> reporter: 46 million people live in colombia, making the size of its population second only to brazil's. this shopping mall in bogota is the most popular among young generation. as you can see, thousands of people enjoy shopping during the weekend. and that popularity has led to more shopping malls popping up in the capital bogota. 11 have been built in the last five years. one of the main factors behind the surge is the growing conception of the middle class. shortly after santiago married luisa three months ago, they bought a tv, a stereo and a washing machine. like most of their peers, they also spend weekends at the

shopping mall. now they are thinking of buying a second television. >> translator: i want to buy a japanese flat panel television because of its quality. >> reporter: japanese companies have also started to invest more in colombia. two years ago, hino motor set up a plant that manufactures 3,000 trucks a year, eliminating the need to ship the vehicles all the way from japan. thanks to improved security, hino is exporting trucks by road. the company is also hoping colombia's improving infrastructure will boost the domestic market for trucks. >> translator: from the logistics point of view, i think colombia is the best place. as regional development makes progress, truck demand is expanding. from the capital to the local areas.

>> reporter: colombia is also making the most of its natural resources to boost economic growth. this is the world's largest open pit coal mine located in northern parts of colombia. the mining company expects to export its coal to china for the first time this year. colombia is the largest coal producer in south america. most of it is shipped to the u.s. and europe. but the population shrank as the financial crisis took hold. now the country's biggest mining company hopes emerging markets in asia will offset the drop in demand. china long has already imported 2 million tons of coal from colombia on a trial basis. >> we are opening a relation with china. we don't have at this moment a big agreement with china, but we hope that there will be the

first year that we can have this opportunity. >> colombia has achieved positive economic growth since 2001. this year, the country expects gdp to expand over 4%. next is a recap of the latest market figures.

that's all for now in biz news. back to catherine. >> thanks very much, ines. the united states trade deficit narrowed in july for the first time in four months due to a drop in imports amid an economic slowdown. the u.s. commerce department said on thursday that the july trade deficit fell 14% from the previous month to $42.8 billion. the decline is attributed to a drop-off in imports of vehicles, auto-related parts and medicines. exports rebounded to around the level they were in august 2008, helped by brisk sales of jetliners and industrial machinery. the trade deficit with japan slid 5.8%, while the deficit with china dropped 0.9%. the u.s. has the largest trade deficit with china among all its trading partners. the u.s. trade deficit had been growing while the economy was showing a moderate recovery in the past four months. but the latest data shows that

the recent slowdown has pushed the deficit down. nearly 1 million people take their own lives every year. the world health organization has designated friday, september 10th, as world suicide prevention day and is calling on governments around the world to recognize suicide as a major problem. speaking to nhk, the w.h.o.'s alexandra fleischman called for greater awareness in preventing suicide. >> it is a day where we come together and think together what we can do about this issue of suicide and attempted suicide. and also to keep in mind that suicide is preventable. >> the w.h.o. says a suicide takes place somewhere in the world every 40 seconds. the problem is serious in countries like japan where over 30,000 people commit suicide each year. many people also kill themselves

in china and india, where economic development is growing rapidly. the number of suicides per unit population is highest in russia and former soviet countries such as lithuania and belarus where around 30 people per 100,000 appear to commit suicide each year. the w.h.o. points out that an industrialized countries, early identification and treatment of depression and other mental disorders are important in suicide prevention. the w.h.o. says that rural areas of developing and emerging nations need to urgently come up with ways to restrict access to substances like pesticides that are used in suicides. south korea has opened its first high-tech weapons exhibition in the hope of securing more arms exports. ♪ 42 companies are taking part in the exhibition in seoul organized by an army veterans association.

defense minister kim tae young and other military and munitions industry leaders were present at thursday's opening ceremony. items on display included a small unmanned reconnaissance drone that south korea plans to deploy in afghanistan to support its troops dispatched there. also on display is a robot equipped with a heat-detecting telephoto lens capable of perceiving the enemy's movements and opening fire. the robot was developed on the assumption of an infiltration of north korean troops into south korea. the veterans association plans to double its high-tech weapons exports to $2 billion over the next five years.

many aging people say they notice they're not as mentally sharp as they used to be but a japanese museum curator is using outdated domestic tools to help strengthen memory. >> reporter: a group of elderly people in higashiomi city handle objects used from the '30s to the '60s. the purpose is to give participants to activate and share their memories. the reminiscence therapy is said to keep dementia in the elderly at bay.

>> translator: when i look at these old things, i remember my youth back in the olden days. >> translator: i am remembering many things. not just the original object. i started to think of other things it reminded me of. i think it's great. >> reporter: these tools come from a museum collection. the notogawa museum in higashiomi city lends them out. the museum owns over 10,000 objects that come from the '30s to the '60s, article for agriculture, fishing and the home fill the warehouse. the public hardly ever sees them. so a curator decided to put them to use. a few years ago, curator tomoku sugimora displayed these objects in an exhibit about bygone life styles. she noticed the elderly enjoyed the exhibit and shared their memories.

she realized that the collection could help older people stay mentally sharp. >> translator: i thought these wooden clogs, lunch boxes and old textbooks would help spark conversation. even for those who are not used to reminiscing and reflection. >> reporter: many at this nursing home suffer from dementia. but on this day, they were able to use the museum objects to reminisce. once, every household had a measuring device like this one. elementary school students used this abacus for counting.

>> translator: this made one penny, two, three, four, five pennies, right? >> translator: when i came here and saw this measuring cup and the abacus, i was brought right back to fifth grade. that's a good thing. i feel like my brain started working again. >> reporter: the care facility and museum have been working together for two years on the reminiscence therapy. they track the elderly's mental and physical changes. they also record what the elderly talk about when they handle the objects. this helps the museum research its exhibits. >> translator: when you ask someone, for example, to name ten vegetables, they tend to perform better than they can answer questions with little effort and seem to increase

their will to keep living. in three months, there are huge differences between those who try and those who don't try our reminiscence therapy. old tools that once collected dust in the warehouse are back in use again. helping the elderly stay mentally sharp. welcome back to your world weather update. in eastern asia we're monitoring a couple of storm systems, one to the north, quite an energetic system moving across the korean peninsula and down in southeastern china, tropical storm meranti made landfall, maximum wind speeds down to 72 kilometers per hour, still a strong system, creating strong winds along the east coast here as well as taiwan and bringing

heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours. we're looking at rainfall affecting the east coast, out to shanghai, even down into the southern coast and also taiwan as well, where the ground is quite saturated. heavy rains and also thunderstorms affecting the koreas today on friday, and that's going to be moving in to japan next but throughout the day it will stay dry for the most part and temperatures climbing quite nicely down in the south as well, tokyo 31 degrees, and it will be fairly cool in seoul, 23 degrees. shanghai coming in at 30 degrees. now let's head to the americas, in fact we'll start off with the flooding situation in texas here, of course, this is due to the remnants of tropical storm hermine that caused drenching downpours in the last few days. so you can see roads and highways heavily inundated in parts of texas, homes, cars and fields were submerged as well and firefighters had to be called in to rescue residents stranded by the fast rising waters. a total of six tornadoes

reported in texas on wednesday. now the storm system's still packing quite a punch and creating stormy weather for this area area, bringing heavy rain to illinois, 100 millimeters of. over towards the northwest we have a storm system that's brewing up over the northern rockies, this is going to be heading into the northern plains and central canada next it will be bringing isolated heavy rain and also some severe thunderstorms to watch out for. over towards eastern quebec still quite stormy for you tonight, and also on your friday, temperatures a little chilly as well across the midwest, looking at 23 degrees in new york today, 20 in toronto, and then 15 degrees up in winnipeg. finally over to europe then, a slow moving system has finally made its way down into the m mediterrane

mediterranean, it will be stormy across the central mediterranean into the weekend, looking at lots of thunderstorms, heavy rain falling on friday, along the west coast of the balkans as well as southern italy. meanwhile this high pressure system expanding from the iberian peninsula is going to help bring dry conditions to central europe, so the weekend is looking good for you here, but the northwest, the british isles looking at wet and windy weather once again. it's going to be moving into southern scandinavia next as well by friday morning. 16 degrees in stockholm today, 20 degrees in london, coming in at 27 in madrid, teens, 18 degrees in berlin today. that's what's going on just now. here is your extended forecast.

and that wraps up this edition of "newsline."

i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks very much for joining us.